Has anyone here used a heat pump type pool heater?

Question

My propane heater is beyond repair and needs to be replaced. I'd like to replace it with something that's more efficient and doesn't require refills. That means an electric heater (there are no natural gas lines in my neighborhood). Has anyone here used one of the newer heat pump models? Is the increased efficiency worth the extra money? Will it heat up an 8-person spa within a reasonable amount of time?

A solar collector would be great for the pool in warm weather, and I've thought seriously about getting one, but what about heating the spa in the winter? Would a solar heater be able to heat a spa to 102 degrees when the daytime temperature is in the 50s or 60s? If it could, I don't know if it would stay there for long after dark, and I like to be able to use the spa in the evening. Probably the ideal solution is to get both and use the heat pump or other heater to pick up where the solar heat leaves off, but I need to replace the propane heater first because that leak is wasting a lot of water.

I live in the Phoenix area, where most of the time I don't even need a heater for the pool because the sun does the job and a solar blanket is sufficient to keep it from cooling down too much at night. However, I like to use the spa even in the winter when it can get down to 40 or lower at night. I t sounds like you're saying that a heat pump wouldn't do a good job of heating the water to 60 degrees above the air temperature. In that case, is propane my only practical option? Natural gas isn't available here, and conventional electric heaters are apparently expensive to operate.

Answer 1

Heat pumps will work, to a point. A lot will have to do with both your geographic location and proper installation.
You need air that's going to be above freezing to get much heat. They'll work down to -10 celcius, but not very well.. Good airflow around and through the unit is a must as well and should be considered on installation. They can't go in a shed, you'll just air condition the air in there to the point that there's no more heat for the unit to grab to put in the pool. Same goes for an alley way installation.
I just saw the last part of your question about a spa. Forget it. Getting it to 104 F will be damn near impossible unless you live on the equator.

Answer 2

I know that many of us have concerns when it comes to using pool heaters that are gas operated. It is not that these type of heaters are not efficient but can be unsafe as time goes on. For the type of swimming pool that you have, I suggest that you use the Hayward Easy Temp Pool Heat Pump Pool Heaters - 65,000 BTU. It utilizes a 2” plumbing and operate on 208-240 volts. I hope that this helped.

Answer 3

a solar collector would be better and less expensive